One more photo and I'll give everyone a break! This is a piece made for my friend Barbara's birthday, from a design in the June 2006 Bead & Button by Wendy Ellsworth. Since it uses 8's, it works up pretty quickly. The only problem is that my stash of 8's is not as complete as my 11's, so of course I'll probably buy more beads to make more!

Thanks for looking.

I really, really love orange!

Well, this is a first for me for this year's BJP. I'm finished with August and it isn't even half gone. Part of the reason has been a lack of work (not good), but also lots of time to bead and catch up around the house (good). I started this piece Sunday and finished it today. I couln't put it down, it kept calling me. I think the reason is that I really love orange, in all its tones and hues. Think of a bag of orange beads of all different kinds and see if you can resist!

The shells are from my fellow beader and bead maker Anne Sheppard. She gave me several but I chose to use the small ones, so I could have more variety. I beaded the spiral in the center first, and did it completely free hand. I'm surprised it turned out so well! I think this piece is my favorite of the 20 pieces I've done for BJP. Don't you think it would make a nice design for fabric?

I used size 8's, 11's, Delicas and some tiny size 14 triangles. Those worked well as the initial bead around the shells.

July, gone but not forgotten!

I've finally finished the July piece. I didn't actually have the 'found' object until July 28th...so I think that is pretty good. The round glass stopper is from a perfume bottle from my friend Hollie Archdale, who is also the teacher/leader of the Friday bead class/group at Findings in Ann Arbor. We've been together with more or less the same people for several years, and have explored many facets of beadwork together. The warmth and support in this group is extraordinary, which I attribute to all of us, but most of all Hollie.

The color this month was blue, just like a perfect July sky. I was able to use some blue vintage Roses Montees that I bought at Bead & Button a couple of years ago. I loved the idea of working with some very old beads, and these were made in Czechoslovakia some years ago. I also snuck some bugles,cubes, lentils and pressed glass beads. Quite the grab bag of blue. I discovered I don't have that many seed beads in the medium to light blue range. Not sure why, but it did force me to use some different shapes this month.

I created a 'cradle' of size 15 beads, and glued the stopper on with E6000. It seems pretty well attached, and I really don't want to cover it with beads. It reflects the colors of the beads all around it so nicely!

Work has been very scarce lately, so I've almost finished August as well. Color is orange, so grab your sunglasses!